Fading Memories
by Hatsuya
Summary: They say that the human mind might forget a person yet the heart never will. But is that true? Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, find out when they are thrown into each other's lives. Roxas x Namine
1. Recurring Dream

**A/N: **Hey everyone (who have stumbled upon this fanfic)! Yes, this is my very first fanfic I have ever posted online. I hope that this is at least partly interesting; it will get better in the later chapters! Anyway, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment, though I will not be pleased with flamers. If I upset you somehow with my story, please tell me kindly and I will try to make things better. Thank you and enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters used in this story (or some of the names of places)! I wish I did though...but I do own the plot (and story as a whole). The rest belongs to Square Enix (Tetsuya Nomura).

**Chapter One- The Dream**

_Drip. _

_He stopped in his tracks, listening for the previous noise. Only silence greeted him so he picked up his steady pace along the road. _

_Drip, drip, drip._

_He stopped again and tried to find the drip's source. An idea entered his mind and he outstretched his hand- palm turned upward- and waited for a few seconds. At last, a drop of rain fell into his smooth palm, and he shook his head, knowing that he had worried for nothing. He stuffed his right hand back into his pocket and trudged forward on the sidewalk. _

_He took a right onto Struggle Lane, already deciding that he should head back home in case a storm was brewing. It wouldn't take too long to reach his destination, just about five minutes- perhaps four, now. He squinted his eyes and searched for his house further up. Finally his eyes rested on the blue-painted, old-fashioned, two-story house near the center of Oblivion Circle. He hurried his pace this time, knowing that in a few minutes he could snuggle up in his-_

_Squish._

_The dirty-blond haired male stopped for the third time and glanced down at his foot. Slowly and cautiously, he raised his left leg and took a step back which revealed a small doll. The boy raised an eyebrow curiously and kneeled down, scooping the doll into his hand. However, he made a disgusted face once he felt how squishy it was- most likely due to the rain which had soaked it completely. _

_He examined the doll closely, making out the black buttons for eyes, the white fabric for the skin, the simple white dress adorning the doll, and the light blonde hair made of a material close to nylon. He had no idea who could have dropped this-but, by the looks of it, a young girl most definitely- so he chose to leave the doll there should the owner ever come to search for it. _

_Crick. Crack._

_The teenager furrowed his eyebrows and looked back at the doll which was already halfway on the pavement. He brought it back up and, finding nothing suspicious, he lowered his hand again. Suddenly, the doll's arms ripped open and real, human hands sprouted out. He immediately dropped the doll yet stayed rooted to the spot even though his mind screamed at him to run. Legs sprung out next and then the doll was entirely destroyed, leaving a single girl there who looked exactly like the doll, instead in human form. _

_By now, he had finally taken a step back but was instantly frozen again when the girl looked up at him from her place on the ground. Her eyes held such strong pain that it wrenched at his heart. Then, as fast as lightning, her hands reached forward and gripped his shoulders. He squeezed his eyes shut, expecting a hard, hurtful grip but when he felt only soft hands place themselves squarely on his shoulder pads, he cracked his eyes open to stare at her and realized that she looked too fragile to produce physical pain. _

_The girl's face was contorted in an expression of utter sorrow as she searched his eyes. They were both soaked from the rain now, but he couldn't tell if the water rolling down her face were tears or the raindrops. Before he had further time to contemplate it, her mouth opened wide and he heard his name tumble from her quivering lips in a loud voice which seemed unnatural for her._

"_Roxas! Roxas! Please! Roxas!"_

Roxas sprung into a sitting position on his bed. His eager eyes checked his surroundings and, realizing that he was only in his bedroom, let out a deep exhale of breath. His shoulders slumped back, and he wiped the sweat from his hot forehead.

_It was just a dream, _he said in his mind. _Just a dream..._

He lied back down to resume his slumber, but found that he could no longer sleep. Each time he closed his eyes, the girl from his dream would appear, displaying her miserable face to him again. In the end, Roxas decided to climb out of his bed and take a long, cold shower. After all, he did have an appointment soon that day, so why not get ready early?

He stripped out of his clothes and sauntered into the shower. After turning the knob to the cold side, he leaned his body against the shower all, trying his hardest to relax his muscles. At first, it worked and he was able to enjoy this shower, but right when he rinsed out his hair of conditioner, the dream came back to him.

Roxas shut his eyes, pushing it to the back of his mind, but then the water sprinkling down his back reminded him of the rain in his dream- the one which had soaked him, and more importantly, that 'doll' which had-

Roxas slammed the knob down, effectively turning off the shower. He hurriedly dried himself off and dressed up for he was determined to get out of the house as soon as possible. After grabbing his wallet and house keys, he exited the house and walked out of the neighborhood. He took a left and made his way to the grocery store where he simply bought five sea-salt ice cream before leaving the building as swiftly as he had come.

He continued on his random journey until he settled on sitting at a bench in Twilight Park. He closed his eyes for the umpteenth time and laid his head back as the sun warmed his skin.

_I really need to stop thinking about that dream; it meant nothing, is nothing, and certainly has nothing to do with me. _He thought and sighed deeply. He knew the he would think about it all day since it wasn't the first time that this had happened to him...

"Hey, Roxas!"

"Gack!" Roxas let out in surprise and sat straight up. He turned around to look for the voice's owner only to find himself staring at his friend's grinning face. "Ugh, Axel..."

The teenager, Axel, grinned wider and took a seat next to his friend. "Scared you, didn't I?"

Roxas shot him a meaningful glare. "Unfortunately, yes, and you better not do that again."

Axel waved off his comment, unaffected by Roxas' threat. "Yeah yeah, whatever." his catlike green eyes traveled down at the wooden bench and at the plastic grocery bag. "What's that?"

"Ice cream, " Roxas answered simply.

Axel snuck his hand inside the bag and pulled out on of the items. "Oh, sea-salt! How did you know this is one of my favorites?" he smirked as he ripped the cover off.

Roxas stared at him in alarm. "Wait, don't-" But he was too late for Axel had already shoved a fourth of the ice cream into his mouth.

"What?" he asked, blinking innocently. "Were you going to give this to someone?"

Roxas smacked his forehead and let out a frustrated sigh. "Yes. There's a reason why I bought exactly five, you dolt."

"Ah, well, what's done is done, right?" Axel replied nonchalantly and gave his dirty-blond haired friend an encouraging smile, "Don't worry about it."

He shot him a peeved look before rolling his eyes. "Says the one who didn't buy the ice cream in the first place."

There was silence between them for a while- Roxas with his chin in his palm as he rested his elbow against the bench arm, and Axel lounging on the bench casually, spiky red hair trembling in the breeze and ice cream dissolving in his warm mouth. Once he finished it though, he threw the stick over his shoulder and turned his eyes to his quiet friend.

"Hey...are you okay?" he asked uneasily.

Roxas snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Axel. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"You sure? You look down." Axel frowned disapprovingly. "Being depressed isn't good for you, you know."

"I'm fine, honestly," Roxas said, though his deep voice had a hint of stress in it.

"Okay..." Axel said into the uncomfortable atmosphere. Suddenly, a thought came to his mind. "It's the dream again, huh?"

"Well, yeah," Roxas admitted. "But don't worry about it; it'll go away soon enough."

Axel gave him an unconvinced look. "Yeah, right. Didn't you say that you have that dream at least twice a week? And it's been going on for three weeks already, right?"

"So? What can I do about it?"

Axel subconsciously massaged the underside of his chin with his right hand. "Hmm...maybe you can talk to a psychiatrist. Wait, your dad is one! Why don't you tell him about it?"

Roxas shook his head. "No way. First of all, it's not really bothering me-" here, Axel gave him a 'yeah, right' type of expression, "okay, maybe it is sort of, but secondly, it'd be awkward. Also my dad has been awfully busy lately so I don't want to bother him any more than necessary."

"Aw," Axel reached out and ruffled Roxas' hair, much to his friend's annoyance, "you're such a sweet kid! Touching, really."

"Agh! Stop that!" Roxas cried, shoving Axel's hand away. "You're so annoying..."

"I try," Axel responded with a shrug of his shoulders. "By the way, you father must be a great psychiatrist if he's been busy a lot lately. Or maybe he's just stressed over someone's condition...hey, if he starts to get more money pouring into his pockets, why don't we go to a concert or-"

"Oh, no!" shouted Roxas, gaining the attention of a few people passing by. He ignored them however and jumped up from his seat.

"Um...Roxas?" Axel asked. "You okay there, buddy?"

"No!" Roxas replied truthfully. "Sorry, Ax, but I have to go; I forgot that I was supposed to be helping my dad out today. Maybe if I run, I'll only be ten minutes late..."

"Then why aren't you leaving already?" the red-head questioned.

"Man, I also said that I'd go to the Usual Spot today. Well, maybe they'll forgive me this time..." the panicked teenager continued.

"Can I have the rest of the ice cream?" Axel inquired.

That seemed to catch Roxas' attention. "No! Those are for Hayner, Pence, Olette, and my dad! I also would have one to eat if someone hadn't eaten it by now without asking me first!" he glowered down at his friend while snatching the grocery bag.

"Well then, go on before your dad throttles you when you arrive. And stop by the Usual Spot if you can, since you think your friends there are better than me..." Axel told him, sounding a bit insulted at the end.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Axel, you know it's not like I prefer Hayner, Pence, and Olette over you. You're all equally my friends...except that they don't really like you- well, at least, Hayner doesn't. Plus, you keep teasing him, way more than what is healthy. Anyway, I really need to go now, so-"

Axel nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I know, I was just messing with you. Go on now- run like the wind!" he shooed him off in a playful manner.

Roxas glared at Axel one last time before taking off down the street. In less than a minute, Axel could no longer see him. "Oh well, it was nice while it lasted." He stretched his limbs and headed in the opposite direction. "Right now, some barbeque roasted chips sound very tempting..."

Roxas collapsed into one of the rolling chairs outside his father's office. He rested his forehead against the main desk as he caught his breath. Before his arrival at the building, he had taken Axel's advice and sprinted to the Usual Spot-which was his and his other friends' hangout. He had explained his current situation, dropped off the majority of the ice cream, and, with a quick apology, rushed out of the place and off to Destiny Center where his father worked.

Then he had quietly tip-toed until he reached the main office and, having been acknowledged and greeted by the receptionist, made his way inside. All the while, he looked about him, making sure that he didn't run into his dad or else he would have been scolded without a doubt. However, he realized that his father was currently preoccupied with a patient and that all his swift maneuvers to get inside safely had been a complete waste.

Therefore, he had considered upon just taking his seat and organizing his dad's files. Of course, he didn't have to come to this center every week; there were many workers here who would organize and file things accurately. But he enjoyed helping his father out- psychology to him was like solving the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. So he had persuaded his father to let him help out and learn more about the subject. And, after some deep thinking, his father and agreed in a pleased manner which was why Roxas would come into Destiny Center and work around.

Ever since that day, his dad had treated him like the average employee- with a few exceptions since he was still young- and that was also why he ordered for his son to be on time and take up calls appropriately. And even though it seemed tough at times, Roxas did not regret his choice.

Ring! Ring!

Roxas blinked stupidly for a moment then dived for the phone on his left. He cleared his voice and smoothly said into the receiver, "Destiny Center residence, how may I help you?"

The voice on the other side was deep and carried much wisdom. "Is this Dr. Takano?"

Roxas idly drummed his fingers against the cool marble of the desk he was sitting at. "No, Dr. Takano is with a client at the moment. May I ask who is calling?"

"Well..." there was a minute of silence before the man spoke again, "Please just tell Dr. Takano a little message; he'll know it was said from me."

"Um, please hold on for a second, sir, as I get a paper and a pen," Roxas informed him politely as his right hand fumbled in the desk drawers and brought out a sticky note and a blue-ink pen, "Alright, you can begin."

"'Have you heard the whereabouts of him?'" the man said slowly, allowing Roxas to easily scribble the quote down. Roxas stilled, waiting for the man to continue but only received a cough.

"Is that all, sir?"

"Oh, yes, thank you," the man on the line answered.

"Alright, thank you for calling; I'll make sure to give this message to Dr. Takano once he has a break." Roxas promised.

"Ah, yes, thank you." The man repeated. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, sir." Roxas hung up the phone and stared down at the note. _'Have you heard the whereabouts of him?' Who is he talking about? And how will my dad know that the message was from that man? _He pondered over the matter and then shook his head, Oh well, he promised to give the message to his dad, and he would dutifully do so. In the meantime, he had some files to sort out...

He carefully and diligently placed folders holding important documents of each client in alphabetical order by last name. After he had done that- it hadn't taken him that long for he had sorted the files just a few days ago- he settled upon going through each folder and searching for the essential papers. If any were missing, then he would have to report that to his father.

_But, _thought Roxas, _somehow I doubt that he'd be missing anything. My dad is very serious and clean when it comes to his work. _

Ten minutes had passed until he finally reached the O section of the folders. His eyes skimmed over the contents of each folder, his mind recognizing the clients most of the time. Even if he didn't remember fully what each person looked like, he often felt a sense of familiarity once his eyes glazed over the name. However, as Roxas picked up a folder and flipped it open, he found that there were no other important documents within it save for a review of the client and the signing in form. Shouldn't his father's notes be in here as well?

Roxas focused on the name and realized that it did not seem familiar at all. _Naminé Omura? How come I don't remember her? _He looked at her description. So she was fifteen- his age. _Strange, I don't normally see kids my age coming here..._

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Naminé," a deep, congenial voice echoed down from the hall. Roxas looked up expectantly, instantly recognizing his father's voice. He immediately stuffed the folder back into the drawer, not wanting to seem like he was going to stalk anyone by reading their profile.

_Wait...did he say Naminé__? _

Roxas got up onto his feet and stumbled to the desk with a wince since he had acquired pins and needles from sitting on the floor for so long. He flipped open the book containing all the appointments scheduled for the day and went to the contents for room 213, his father's office. He scanned the writing and found the name Naminé.

_Of course! No wonder dad didn't have any notes about her yet- she's a new client! _Roxas slapped his forehead for his stupidity. He looked up and saw his father approaching the main desk and closed the appointment book. Deciding to deliver the message left by the man, who had called not too long ago, he trudged forward to meet his father with the note in his hand.

His father, noticing Roxas walking towards him, stopped his pace as well as his conversation with the girl by his side. "Oh, Roxas, for a minute I didn't think you would come." He said lightly.

Roxas laughed nervously, knowing that his father actually meant 'What took you so long? You better tell me afterwards.' Then he remembered the note sticking to his hand. "Oh, right! A man called earlier for you."

Curiosity filled his face. "A man? What was his name?"

"Umm..." Roxas began. "He didn't tell me his name. He told me that you'd know who he was if you heard the message he left for you."

His father stood still, obviously thinking of the possible men in his head. Alas, he couldn't come to one solid answer. "Do you have the message?" he finally asked.

Roxas looked down at the note. "It says: 'Have you heard the whereabouts of him?'" he looked up at his father this time and tried to read his face.

Recognition lit up in his father's face. "I see. I must return the call at once then. But..." he gazed at the girl beside him. When he did this, Roxas finally noticed the quiet, petite girl next to his father. Her light blonde came a few inches past her shoulders and was swept over her left shoulder. Her eyes were glued to the ground so he couldn't see much of her face. Yet he could see clearly the pale, fair skin and the simple white dress she was wearing. Blue dress shoes were clasped onto her feet with star-shaped silver pins attached to the straps.

"Roxas." Roxas snapped out of his trance and met his father's eyes. "Would you be so kind as to escort this young lady out?"

"Oh. S-sure," Roxas replied with a stutter. He hoped his father hadn't noticed.

"Excellent," he said, having either not noticed his son's stutter or choosing to ignore it. "Thank you for coming, Naminé, and I'm sorry that I cannot escort you out on your first day here." He smiled warmly at said girl named Naminé and she looked up into his eyes.

"No, thank you," she said in a tender voice which was almost inaudible to Roxas. "And it's alright, I can go out on my own."

His father chuckled. "Oh no, don't worry about it. My son, Roxas, here, would be glad to guide you out. Wouldn't want you accidentally getting lost, right?"

She smiled politely and nodded her head. Looking more closely at her, Roxas realized that she appeared to be quite familiar now for some reason. The dainty, yet not complete smile...as if she was holding back something...

"Well, I better call my friend now," Roxas' father said. "I'll leave the rest to you, Roxas. See you tomorrow, Naminé." And then his figure disappeared back into his office.

Roxas turned his attention back to the girl in front of him. "Shall we go down, then?"

Naminé turned in his direction and lifted her eyes to meet his fully. Yet he had not been expecting to see the pain and sorrow filling her blue orbs. It took him a few seconds before Roxas understood why the immense emotion tugging at his heart strings seemed so memorable. His eyes widened.

_She's...the girl from my dream..._

--

**A/N: **Well, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! It took some time thinking up the surnames, roads, and whatnot (even though it may not look like it, lol) and I think they all turned out okay. Anyway, I'll be sure to get chapter two out once I finish typing and editing it! (And ah!! School is in ten days!!)

-Hatsuya (Ha-chan)


	2. Ungranted Investigation

**A/N: **Tada! Here's chapter two, at last! Lately, songs by Rurutia (an amazing yet mysterious Japanese artist) have been inspiring me to write...haha. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter; it came out way longer than I originally planned! (I thought it would only be about ten pages...but this is twenty pages!)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters or places (the names of the places, ex: Twilight Town, the tunnels, etc.) in this story, but I do own the rest! These things actually belong to Square Enix, the designer being Tetsuya Nomura. Ah well, a girl can dream...

**Chapter 2- Ungranted Investigation**

"You mean to say that you met the girl who was in your dream?" Hayner, one of Roxas' best friends, inquired with a disbelieving look on his face.

"Yeah, exactly," Roxas confirmed.

His other friend, Olette, spoke up this time. "Are you sure, Roxas? It wasn't just a coincidence?"

Hayner snorted, "Should be, unless you can see into the future, Roxas. But I highly doubt that."

Olette shot him a disapproving look. "You're not helping, you know." She turned back to Roxas. "Did she look the same as the girl in your dream? Her hair? Her form?"

Roxas furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought. "Now that I think about it, I can't really remember anything about the girl in my dream besides her eyes."

"Then did she...what was her name?" Olette asked.

"Naminé," Roxas supplied for her.

"Then did Naminé have the same eyes?" she pressed on.

It took Roxas a few minutes to contemplate it before he nodded. "Yeah, they both had blue eyes which were filled with sadness..."

"Sadness? Why was, or is, Naminé sad?" she cocked her head to the side in a confused manner, her brown, equally parted hair following her movement.

"How would he know? He just met the girl yesterday." Hayner answered for Roxas then faced his male friend. "Besides, you said that you guys didn't talk much, right?"

Roxas nodded again. "Yeah, we only exchanged a few sentences. Nothing earth-shattering whatsoever..." he thought back to the light conversation he and Naminé had shared yesterday as he escorted her out.

--

_Roxas exhaled a shaky breath. Was the walk to the front door really this long? Out of the corner of his left eye he studied the girl walking a slow, steady pace beside him. Her head was bent down a fraction, her eyes shimmering whenever she focused on one of the lamps on the small tables. Her pale blonde hair swept forward and covered the straps of her dress and her hands were brought in front of her, clasped together lightly. Roxas caught sight of the elevator and hurried forward to press the button for the door to open._

"_Uh, after you," he said politely when the doors slid open immediately and revealed no one inside. Naminé nodded her head slightly and entered the space quietly. Roxas followed suit and pressed the button to the lobby._

_At this moment, Roxas couldn't remember a moment when he felt so uncomfortable. Except for that time when he was buying some clothes for his newborn niece and noticed all of the mothers staring at him as he entered the baby girl clothes section...he could only imagine what they were thinking. Roxas shook his head to dispel those thoughts and focused on finding a good enough conversation starter. _

"_How did your session with my father go?" he asked before mentally slapping himself. What kind of question was that?! Who actually liked to talk about their psychology appointments anyway? Though he could name a few..._

_Naminé looked surprised for a moment but answered, "It went...well."_

_Roxas shifted in his spot and offered a small, "Ah..."since he didn't know what else to say. He thought up another thing to say but didn't get round to speaking it for Naminé spoke up instead._

"_I'm guessing you come here often?" _

_Roxas nodded. "Well, yeah, I kind of work here on certain days; I just help my father organize things a bit..."_

_Namine smiled, though it was that one sad smile. "That must be great, being able to be so close to your parent like that. Bonding..."_

_He raised a confused eyebrow, "Uh, I guess so..." Just then, a 'ding' was heard and the elevator doors slid open once again. Naminé stepped out first then Roxas, who tried to ask her about what brought on her previous question, "Wait-"_

"_I think I can go out on my own now. Thank you for escorting me," Naminé cut him off and continued her walk to the front doors. _

_--_

_Roxas stood where he was, thoroughly perplexed now. What had she meant...?_

"Earth to Roxas, are you there? Hell-o?" Roxas blinked stupidly at Hayner's hand which was waving back and forth in front of his face.

"Huh?" was his 'clever' reply.

Hayner rolled his eyes, "Glad to see you're still alive."

"I've got it!" Olette exclaimed happily.

"Got what? Ice cream, I hope; I'm in the mood for one..." Hayner trailed off.

Olette smacked his upper arm, "Not that!" she turned to Roxas. "I mean that I think I know how to help you."

"Really?" he cocked his head to the side. "How?"

"Well, what if we each thought up a way to help you solve your frustration? We could take turns with Roxas and-"

"So you mean we still have to think up ways to help Roxas? That's the plan? I'm not sure how I can contribute...nothing's coming to my mind," said Hayner.

Olette crossed her arms over her chest. "That's why while you and Pence, once he gets here, think up ways to help Roxas, I'll help him now since I already have a-"

"Oh, I thought of a great idea!" he grabbed Roxas' arm, "come on!"

"-clever idea..." Olette curled her fingers into tight fists. "Hey! I came up with the whole plan in the first place! Shouldn't I be the one to get Roxas first?!"

Hayner waved his hand in a 'yeah, yeah, whatever' fashion, "You can be next, okay?" he yelled over his shoulder as he dragged Roxas out of their hangout, grabbing two blue objects along the way.

Roxas did his best to not trip over his own feet though he did wince when Hayner tightened his hold. "Where are we going?!"

"Right..." he speed-walked a few feet more, "...here!" Hayner stopped and let go of Roxas' wrist.

Roxas looked around him; it was a wide, free space- in fact, it was a rectangular place in the tunnels of Twilight Town. "Um...didn't people say not to go down here? Especially since there have been recent sightings of some kind of 'ghost' or 'spirit' here...?" He looked around cautiously, as if expecting something to pop out any second.

Hayner snorted loudly and caused Roxas to stare at him peculiarly. "You mean to say that you are afraid of ghosts, or spirits for that matter?"

"Well, no, but still, this place in partly under construction, "Roxas pointed out.

Hayner rolled his eyes at him. "They won't catch us; I mean, they work all the way on the other side."

Roxas opened his mouth to say something but closed it once he couldn't think of a proper reply. He settled on glaring at his blond friend.

"Oh come on, stop being such a big baby. Besides, this spot is the perfect spot I could ask for!" he waved his left hand around- since his right hand was holding a pair of objects behind him- indicating to the great mass around him.

"Huh? The perfect spot for what?" he watched as Hayner's left hand hid itself behind his back where his right hand was as well.

Hayner grinned. "The perfect spot for..." he brought his hands out in front of him, effectively closing the big gap between them. "This!"

Roxas stared at the blue cushioned bats before him. "You're going to beat me up...?"

Hayner sent him a not amused look. "Want me to?" Roxas shook his head slowly. "Didn't think so. Anyway, this is my plan to help you; you see, we'll spar like we do sometimes."

"And this will help me...how...?" he shot his friend, who looked so full of himself at the moment, with a skeptic look.

Hayner sighed impatiently. "Come on, let's just spar- you'll see." He thrust one of the bats towards Roxas, making sure he took it. Then he backed up to the opposite side of his uncertain friend. "You ready?" he pushed up his imaginary sleeves and got into a battle stance.

"Hayner, I'm not really in the mood right-"

"Hyaa!!" Hayner charged at him and swung the bat as hard as he could. Roxas barely dodged in time and stared in fright from his place on the ground at his crazed friend.

"I know you're better than that, Roxas!" Hayner mocked and took another swing at him.

Roxas rolled out of the way and got back on his feet. "Wait, but Hayner-" he turned his head to the right-

SMACK!

Roxas fell to the ground on his hands and knees. He breathed heavily. Hayner glanced at him and dropped the bat he had just used to hit Roxas, by accident, in the face. "Sorry, but I warned you." He shrugged.

Roxas brought his hand up to his face, "No. you. didn't." he grounded out.

"Hey, well you should have been prepared like you usually are whenever I tell you that we're going to spar." He said while crossing his arms. "It's not my fault."

This time, no reply came from Roxas. He just stayed on the floor, not moving an inch. Hayner looked at him again, wondering why his dirty-blond haired friend wasn't getting up already. "Uh...Roxas?"

"...what?" Roxas asked tightly.

"Are you okay?" he crouched down next to his friend. Roxas let out a muffled response which had Hayner concerned. He jerked Roxas' shoulder back to get a look at his face, but raised an eyebrow when he saw Roxas holding a hand over his nose and mouth. "What's wrong?"

Roxas shook his head and pushed away Hayner's hand. "Iz nuftin." he said as he sat down in a more comfortable position.

Hayner, however, was not convinced and reached for Roxas' hand, pulling it away. The sight which greeted him was not pleasant. Blood covered the palm of Roxas' hand as well as the portion of his face under his nose. Hayner gaped, completely stupefied. "I did that, didn't I?"

"Who else?" Roxas asked. "It's alright, just let me rest a little."

Hayner pulled him up instead. "Yeah, right! Let's go back to the Usual Spot and clean this up. Come on and keep your nose up," Hayner instructed. "I'll get the bats."

"Okay," Roxas agreed. He settled on staring at the ceiling as Hayner gathered the bats. Suddenly, he saw something black appear out of the corner of his eyes. He bent his head back down to its normal position and stared at the figure standing in the corner. A long, wide black sheet covered the body and a hood masked the head neatly. It was slowly approaching him. "Uh...Hayner?"

Hayner got back up with the bats in hand. "What? Hey! Keep your head back!" Apparently he hadn't noticed the dark figure in the corner yet.

"Um, I don't think you should be worrying about that right now..." Roxas pointed a finger at the being. Hayner followed it with his eyes until they landed on the being, too.

"Hello...?" Hayner said uncertainly.

The figure crept closer, this time with a limp in its step. A black arm stretched out towards them, accompanied by a throaty chuckle. The blond males backed away.

"It's th-the ghost, spirit thing...!" Hayner exclaimed. "Run!" he sprinted out of the area with Roxas close behind him. He spared a glimpse at Roxas who was running beside him and shouted, "I said keep your head back!"

"Hayner, I really don't think this is the time!" Roxas angrily shouted back.

"Hey! You kids! You're not supposed to be in here!" a voiced flitted down the tunnel. They snapped their heads to the right and recognized the owner of the voice to be one of the construction men.

"Crap...!" muttered Hayner. "Run faster!"

"Oh, great, the blood is running!" Roxas said. "And I don't think that ghost thing is coming after us anymore!"

"Maybe not, but now that construction dude is!" Hayner replied. "And cover your nose with your hand; I'll help lead you!" his hand reached out and grabbed his friend's wrist once more as they came closer to their hangout.

A couple of minutes passed until Hayner cried out, "We're safe!" they both came to a stop and took deep, refreshing breaths.

"Hayner? Roxas?" Olette walked out of the Usual Spot with a questioning look on her face. "Where did you guys go? And were you running?"

Hayner dragged in his last, long breath before answering. "Well, I took him down through the tunnels-"

"Which are off-limits right now?" Olette asked though she knew the answer.

"Oh come on! It had the best sparring place!" he said in defense.

"You took him all the way over there to spar? That's how you help him?!"

"Well, I thought it would help him take his mind off of that Naminé girl! It worked somewhat, didn't it?" the blond turned to Roxas who had his head bent and his free hand on a crouched knee.

"Yeah, especially when you went insane and hit me in the face," Roxas lifted his face to give his friend an annoyed expression.

"Oh my gosh! You hit him in the face?! Are you okay?!" Olette stepped up to Roxas and gasped at the bloody mess on his hand that also got smeared on part of his face. "Come back inside, at least with me you'll be safe." the brunette took him inside while the other dejected boy put the bats in a corner.

Olette gave Roxas a wet rag to clean himself up with before ripping off pieces of tissue for him to clog his nostrils. "Thanks, I'm good." he said gratefully. "Besides, it wasn't really Hayner's fault; I was just...distracted. Plus, it did help me somewhat."

She looked at him strangely. "Sure, but you got hurt, too."

He offered her a smile. "I'll heal."

"Hey guys!" called Pence as he entered the small room with a white bag in hand. "Sorry I'm late!"

"What took you so long?" Hayner inquired as he slumped against a box.

"Oh, my grandma is over at my house this week and you know how she gets when she hasn't seen me in a while," he pointed out his ruffled dark brown hair to his friends. He went over to sit on the couch. "Whoa, what happened to you, Roxas?"

"Well, Roxas was telling us about a girl he met and who he thinks he saw in his dream before he actually met her. It's been plaguing his mind so I decided that we should think up ideas to help him out," her eyes traveled to Hayner who coughed, "however, Hayner's idea was to spar with Roxas and he ended up giving him a bloody nose instead."

"I should have known," Pence said with an amused shake of his head.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hayner piped up angrily.

"Nothing, nothing," Pence responded instantly and held up his hands in defense.

"Anyway, I've decided to help Roxas this time and my idea is to-" she looked back at Roxas but realized he was gone. "Eh?"

"I know what to do," Pence said to Roxas who was now sitting beside him. "Here, have this." He pulled out a sea-salt ice cream from the white bag and handed it to Roxas. "Whenever I want to forget about something, I just eat."

Olette sighed as she watched Roxas shrug and begin licking his ice cream. She sauntered over and grabbed one for herself, ignoring Hayner's request to pass him one too. Then she sat on the opposite side of the room.

The teenagers ate in silence, Hayner having gotten up to get his own ice cream grumpily, until they had all finished and Pence asked, "Did it work?"

"Actually, I started thinking while I ate..." Roxas admitted sheepishly. "But, it's alright guys; I'm not that frustrated; you don't have to help me."

Olette pouted. "But we're your friends and worry over you. Besides, I didn't have my turn yet..."

Roxas sighed, "Alright, what is it?"

His brunette friend jumped up happily and instructed everyone to, save for Roxas, leave the hangout. After Hayner and Pence left, though reluctantly, Olette made Roxas lie down on the couch. "Are you comfortable? I hope this helps."

"Yeah, I'm good. But do all I have to do is lie here like this?"

She giggled. "Well, yeah, but that's not the point. My idea was to make you lie down and think everything through, instead of trying to forget the problem. So, you should start thinking- what your dream could mean, why Naminé might be sad, what you should do...we'll be out for an hour so do your best!" she waved at him and then left the room quietly.

_So I'm supposed to think things through, huh? _Roxas shifted a little more into the couch, his eyes drooping a bit. _Let's see, my dream could mean anything...maybe it's telling me that I should be careful of dolls on the streets? But that doesn't explain why Naminé was in my dream..._

Roxas yawned. _Maybe if I close my eyes I can try to picture out the entire scene of my dream? It's worth a try..._

And he drifted off into slumber...

"Roxas? Get up," came a soft voice above him.

Roxas' eyes cracked opened, settling themselves on Olette who was bent over him. She took a step back so he could sit up. "Huh...?" he said.

"Did you think things through? About Naminé, I mean?" she asked innocently.

"Uh, not a lot...I guess I feel asleep quickly..." he answered.

The brunette's shoulders slumped. "Oh..." She had obviously hoped her idea would work on him. Roxas, seeing this, quickly reassured her.

"But I fell asleep since I was just tired! Next time when I'm not so exhausted, I'll try it again; I bet it'll work!"

That brought a smile to her face. "Okay! Make sure to try it out!" she looked down at her watch. "And you should probably start heading off to work now."

He sprang up onto his feet. "Oh, right! Thanks for reminding me and see you tomorrow!" he said as he made his way to the exit.

"Promise me you'll try my idea again soon!" Olette called out to him.

He held up his pinky finger to show her that it was a promise and ran down the street, yelling out a hurried 'bye!' to Hayner and Pence who were just coming out of a store.

He actually had twenty minutes until the time he had to be at Destiny Center and it only took him ten minutes to get there, but he decided that going in early was better than anything else he had planned. Roxas pivoted on his feet to take a turn but then something pulled him behind a bush. "What the-?"

"Hey," Axel greeted him casually from his kneeling position behind the bush. "What's up?"

"Why did you pull me in here? And what on earth are you doing?" Roxas questioned once he got over his shock.

"Well, I heard running foot steps and knew that the only people who usually run around this area are thieves, that hot lady who lives down some blocks, or you, so I took my chances and hoped I got you or that lady," the redhead answered nonchalantly. "And I was just trying to scare some people. See?" he pulled out a black costume from next to him.

Roxas stared, eyes wide, at the costume displayed in all its glory. "You were that ghost thing in the tunnels?!"

"Ghost thing? Wow, nice name. Yeah, it was me and I have to say that your horrified face was priceless," he smiled smugly. "But don't blame me; I was just trying to find some peace there but you just had to come in and ruin it."

"Those tunnels are off-limits, you know."

"What can I say?" he shrugged. "I'm a rule-breaker. Besides, what were you doing down there?"

"Well, Hayner was trying to take my mind off of that dream I told you about especially since I met the girl in my dream yesterday at Destiny Center; she's my dad's client."

"Whoa, that's wacky. You met her in real life? What are you; psychic?"

Roxas ran a hand through his short, spiky hair. "I don't think so, but anyway, Hayner suggested that we spar with those cushioned bats down there since it's a 'great spot' and when I wasn't expecting it, he hit me by accident." He pointed a finger at his clogged nose.

"Ah...I see," Axel replied with a shake of his head. "Kids these days...well, I know how to help."

Roxas snorted. "You? Help me? Okay, what kind of bizarre idea do you have this time?"

Axel put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Hey, I happen to have a pretty good plan this time. You see, all you need to do is learn a bit more about Naminé, compare it with your dream, and see what it means. That simple."

"So you're saying that I should become close to her, like a friend, and take my time to hang out with her more to know more about her? That...is actually pretty smart of you."

"Why, thank you. And who said anything about taking your time? You help your dad over at his workplace, right?" Roxas nodded slowly, not knowing where this was going.

Axel stood up. "So, just look at her file and see what her 'problem' is. That might clear a few things up for you."

Roxas got up too and dusted off his pants. "That's brilliant, Axel! When did you get so clever?"

Axel smiled an arrogant smile. "I can be clever when I want or need to be." He walked out from behind the bush. "Now, go on."

"Wait!" Roxas said. "Do you mind coming with me for back up? I don't want my dad to come to check up on me and see me reading her file. I mean, he might or might not think I'm snooping, you know?"

Axel rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "True...alright, I'm coming with you. This'll be fun." He flashed his friend a mischievous smile and then headed in the direction of Destiny Center, making sure Roxas was close behind.

"Do you have it?" Axel whispered over to Roxas. They were the only people near the desk for half of the other workers were scuttling about and the others were occupied with clients. The redhead stood by the desk to make sure no one grew suspicious of them and ambled over to see what they were up to.

Roxas sat on the ground as he shuffled through the cabinet. Landing on a file with 'Omura' labeled on it, he carefully took it out. "Yeah, it's here."

"Okay, what does it say?"

His eyes trailed over parts of information until he landed on a few pieces of his father's notes. He tried to read the cursive writing. "It says something about 'family claims she's hallucinating', 'makes things up', and 'people forget her'...can't read the rest as well."

"Weird..." Axel said.

"Well, I don't think that's going to help much. What should I do now?" Roxas gazed up at the redhead.

"Hmm...maybe you can copy her address."

"What for?"

"Just do it and quickly! Your father is coming," Axel ordered. He tried to look laid-back as Roxas' father strolled forward. "Hey, Mr. T!"

Dr. Takano, 'Mr. T.', seemed mildly surprised to see Axel. "Why, hello Axel. I haven't seen you in a while. What brings you here?"

"Well, you know," Axel leant back against a small table near the desk Roxas was at. "Roxas has been hanging out at the Usual Spot and then coming to work here, only leaving about ten or fifteen minutes to come see me." He feigned a sad sigh. "So, I decided to come see him this time."

Dr. Takano frowned a bit. "I'm sorry to hear that you don't spend as much time with Roxas as you'd like. Maybe Roxas should take some time off, just for today? I'll make sure he visits you more often from now on."

"It's okay, dad! I mean, you might need someone to pick up calls for the rest of the day; Axel's just being a baby, as usual." Roxas piped up.

Axel crossed his arms. "Well, maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but I have to admit that I wanted you to help me out today. You see, my step mom is 'taking care' of me this week since my dad is out of town, and she needs help setting up this treadmill. You know that she's not exactly the strongest or best person at setting up things."

"Ah, I see. Roxas, you should take the rest of the day off and help Axel and his mother today." Dr. Takano urged before turning to Axel. "And send my regards to your mother."

"Are you sure, dad?" Roxas asked, putting the information back into Naminé's folder.

His father nodded. "Yes, I can handle things from here; today is going slowly after all. Oh, and what were you writing?"

Roxas gulped. "Uh, just a note." he discreetly hid the folder containing Naminé's information.

"Yeah, someone called earlier. Roxas told me that it was just some man asking about you, but he wouldn't leave a phone number. He said he would call later, though, if he could," lied Axel.

"I see. Well, thank you and you boys better head on out. I'll see you later tonight, Roxas," Dr. Takano said as he walked by them to talk to one of the workers.

"Phew," Axel wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead. "Got the note?"

Roxas grabbed the sticky note and placed Naminé's folder back into the cabinet. He went over to Axel. "Yup, got it."

"Then let's go."

"To your house?"

Axel rolled his eyes. "No, that whole story about my step mom needing help was a fib, though she is over for the week...anyway, give me the note, you'll see what I mean."

Roxas complied and gave the redhead the note along with a bewildered expression before the pair headed for the exit.

"Don't tell me you had me write down her address so I could go to her house and ask her all about her life?" Roxas inquired as he stared at the big house in front of them- _Naminé's _house.

"Close, but not quite. You won't be talking to her; you'll be snooping on her," Axel corrected proudly. "I think her bedroom is the one with the open window...I can kind of see someone inside."

"So you're going to climb up that tree and peek into her room?"

"No, you are."

Roxas' head snapped over to the redhead's smirking face. "Me?! It's your idea!"

"Yeah, well, it's your problem. Besides, I don't think you would be able to catch me if I fell."

"I really don't want to do this..."

"Come on, you just have to stay up there for about a couple to five minutes. Not long at all," Axel pushed him towards the tree. "Now come on, I'll help you get up."

Roxas let out a groan when Axel lifted his foot off the ground and urged him to start climbing. He did as he was instructed, being as quiet as he could. Finally, after some minutes, he got onto the branch closest to the open window and squinted his eyes to peer in.

Axel was right; it was Naminé's room after all. He could see her clearly sitting in a chair at a table by her bed. She was surrounded by crumpled papers, littering the floor, and she seemed to be drawing something. He tried to make out the picture, but he couldn't see from his position.

He heard a knock on her door and scooted back a bit so he wouldn't be noticed. A woman who appeared to be in her early thirties walked in with a tray occupied by sliced apples. She greeted Namine genuinely, took the fruit-piled plate off of the tray, and set it down next to the girl.

"Some apples for you, miss. You need to remain healthy," the lady- who he assumed to be the maid- said daintily.

"Thank you, Ms. Tanaka," Naminé replied in a gentle tone. She continued to draw.

"What are you drawing?" the maid named Ms. Tanaka went to stand behind the blonde's chair to peek over her shoulder. "Looks cute."

Naminé smiled. "You think so? I drew a picture of the time we went to that annual banquet held at my father's company."

Ms. Tanaka furrowed her thin eyebrows. "Banquet? But only your parents went to that banquet; I stayed here to look after you since you were sick."

She stiffened. "No, I wasn't sick, and we all went to that banquet together: mother, father, you, and me."

"Aw, sweetie," Ms. Tanaka rubbed her shoulder in a comforting way, "you must be thinking up things again. I remember perfectly that day and you nor I went to that banquet. Maybe you should sleep a little earlier today?"

Naminé didn't say anything; she had also stopped drawing.

The maid shivered. "Oh, it's getting chilly in here, I better shut your window."

_Shoot. _Roxas thought.

"No, it's alright, I'll close it," Naminé said. "I just want to be alone right now."

Ms. Tanaka sighed. "Alright, dear. I'll check up on you later." And with that, she left the room with the empty tray.

"We did go to the banquet together...I know it..." Naminé muttered. She looked down at her picture, scribbled messily all over it, and crumpled it up. Throwing it at the floor, she got up and walked over to the open window. The blonde haired girl closed her eyes as she let the cool wind sweep over her face to calm her nerves.

_I should probably get back down now... _thought Roxas. He backed up, trying to feel around the tree so that he wouldn't slip. However, things just weren't going his way that day and his left hand slipped from the branch he was on, causing him to lose his balance and fall, ungracefully, out of the tree.

Due to his sudden shock, he didn't scream but his breath hitched louder than usual which caught Naminé's attention. Her eyes opened immediately and she stared in surprise at Roxas as he fell. Looking down, he could see Axel's eyes widen and his arms open wider. Things seemed to go in slow motion for him but as soon as he realized that this was not a dream and that he was actually falling, he crashed headfirst into Axel's chest, effectively knocking him down as well.

"Ugh..." Roxas grunted. "Sorry, Ax."

Axel coughed then waved a hand, "It's alright, but it'd help if you got off me, you know."

"Oh, right." Roxas got up onto his feet and helped Axel up. They dusted themselves off and caught their breaths. Roxas looked up to see the window still open. _But where's Naminé...?_

Just then, the front door to her house opened loudly and Naminé came running out. She stopped in front of the boys. "What are you doing here?" she looked at Axel. "And who are you?"

Axel coughed. "Oh, I'm his friend. And just so you know, we aren't gangsters or anything."

Naminé thought for a minute. "Were you spying on me?"

Roxas scratched the back of his head, "Well, not exactly..."

"Then did Dr. Takano, I mean your father, send you?"

He gulped. _Busted. _"Er, no..."

She shot him a suspicious glare. "So you were spying? What do you want?"

"Look, I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that, and this might sound weird, but I've been having odd dreams lately. And, well, you have been the main person-"

"Never mind," said Naminé. She hugged her body as if conceal herself from him. "Just don't do that ever again, okay? My life is personal and I have my own problems to take care of. Please, just leave me alone." She pivoted on her foot and rushed back into the house.

"Ouch. That didn't go so well, huh?" Axel said from behind him. He had tried to stay out of the 'conversation' as best as he could since he didn't have anything to say in the first place, though he did regret not defending Roxas, even if no lie or mixed truth had entered his mind. "Sorry, Rox, I didn't think that would happen. But don't worry about it too much; you didn't mean to make her so upset. I'll walk you home, kay?"

"No, it wasn't your fault. You were just helping me out," he said, though in a depressed tone. Boy did he feel like a jerk right now... With Axel's hand on his back, patting him reassuringly, Roxas walked home.

"Ah, I see, Mrs. Omura," spoke Dr. Takano into the phone. "Don't worry, I understand completely. Let her rest and I hope she gets better." He scribbled a note down. "Yes, you're very welcome. Good day."

Dr. Takano placed the phone back down into its cradle. He set the note on his desk for his son to see and turned only to see his son himself dragging his feet down the hall. "Roxas, what's wrong? You seem...different today. Are you sick?"

Roxas met his father's concerned gaze. "Oh, I'm fine. Just didn't sleep too well last night."

"I see. Well, get to work and tell me if you don't feel well, alright?" his father stated before walking away.

"Yes, sir!" Roxas called out to him. He noticed the note on the desk and picked it up in order to read it. _'Roxas, please mark an x in Naminé's folder on the schedule for this day; she won't be coming to her appointment today.'_

He stilled and hurried to catch up with his dad. "Dad, wait!"

His father turned to face him, puzzlement masking his face. "What is it, Roxas?"

Roxas pointed to the note in his left hand. "What do you mean 'Naminé won't be coming to her appointment today'?"

His father chuckled. "And I thought you'd be happy to have fewer things to organize. Well, her mother, Mrs. Omura, called in saying that Naminé didn't feel well enough to come here today. Therefore, I let her cancel the appointment."

"Oh..." Roxas said.

His father raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no! Not at all," replied Roxas. "I was just curious, that's all."

"Well, alright then. I'll be in my office," his father informed him and continued on his stroll.

Roxas bit his lower lip. He had a feeling that the reason Naminé hadn't shown up was because of him. _What have I done...? _

--

**A/N: **Yeah, this was definitely twice as long than the last chapter, lol. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter as well! It was really fun to write, especially the part where Hayner and Roxas 'spar' (though I felt kinda sad when I made Roxas get a bloody nose). Chapter three might not come out as quickly since I have to start getting ready for school, but I'll do my best!

-Hatsuya


	3. Persistent Apology

**A/N: **See? I didn't give up on this story! Albeit, it took me a while, but it's still here! Haha, well, I'm glad I got over my Writer's Block. Anyway, enjoy this chapter! It was fun to write ;)

**Disclaimer: **As said before, I own nothing except the actual written story as a whole; the superior owner is Square Enix (Tetsuya Nomura as the main designer/creator).

**Chapter Three- Persistent Apology**

A sigh escaped the lips of the dirty-blond haired boy. His fingers drummed lightly on the desk he sat at, eyebrows furrowing in deep thought. He had screwed up...majorly. At first, he had been thinking of reasons why Naminé would miss an appointment that didn't eventually lead back to himself. Then again, it could just be that she wasn't feeling well, like his father had said, right?

But it was too much of a coincidence...

His dull blue eyes glanced at the phone to his right. _Maybe if I called-? _He could easily call the Omura residence and inquire about Naminé's current state, or would they be angry? His hand was slowly inching towards the phone as he debated his situation in his mind and before he knew it, he had already dialed their house number.

He wiped his sweaty palms on his black pants, listening intently to the dial tones on the phone. He contemplated on hanging up before they even had the chance to pick up the phone once two rings passed, but the phone was finally picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?" a curious voice answered, unmistakably a woman's voice.

Roxas held the phone away from him as he let out a shaky breath- he didn't want to sound like a creepy stalker after all. Once he had composed himself, he returned his attention to the phone in his hand. "Um, hello? This is Roxas Takano, calling from Destiny Center."

There was silence for a few seconds before she slowly spoke, "Destiny Center...?" he could almost hear the light bulb flicker on in her head as she said, "Oh yes, allow me to retrieve Mrs. Omura."

_Mrs. Omura? _So this woman wasn't Mrs. Omura? Roxas thought hard for a minute until he realized that it was probably the maid he had seen while snooping- er, investigating- at Naminé's house the other day.

"Hello?" a deeper, yet still feminine without a doubt, voice startled him out of his train of thought.

"Ah, yes! This is Roxas Takano, son of Dr. Takano of Destiny Center..."

"So I heard. May I help you?" Roxas could easily detect how her voice tightened as if she was expecting some bad news.

"Oh, I was just wondering about Naminé's well being since I noticed her absence today..." he started. "And, well, do you know if she will be attending tomorrow's appointment?"

"Hmm...well, I can't guarantee anything, but I'm assuming that she will. She didn't seem to be seriously ill today; I'm mostly certain that she'll be feeling well enough to make it to the appointment tomorrow, but I'll call if she proves otherwise," Mrs. Omura answered honestly. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Oh, uh, no, that's fine; I was just checking to make sure. Thank you!" he hastily replied. He didn't want to prolong the awkward conversation any longer than necessary.

"You're quite welcome. Goodbye then." The older woman ended the call gracefully as she hung up the phone.

Roxas stared down at the phone in his right hand. He hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye back...Shrugging, he set the phone down in its appropriate cradle and let his mind wander onto the phone call he had just been involved in. _'I'm mostly certain that she'll be feeling well enough to make it to the appointment tomorrow...' _She had said. Well, if she was almost entirely sure that Naminé would be coming tomorrow, he was safe to assume that she was, right? He hoped so...

Roxas stilled at that thought. He _wanted _her to come? Now that he thought of it, what was he going to say when he saw her tomorrow? No doubt she would still be pretty mad at him for what happened the other night. Should he dare to ask for her forgiveness?

It was times like these which he reflected on what his father would do in his situation. Then again, his father wouldn't ever have this problem to begin with since he was always able to charm anyone with his sincere smile and convincing words- of which Roxas failed to inherit.

Jeez, that certainly didn't help any.

He considered asking his friends for advice again but once he remembered the horrible experiences he endured last time he had asked for help, he immediately shot down that idea. But, maybe Olette could help him...after all, she was a girl herself and would probably understand how Naminé was feeling at the moment.

"I just hope she doesn't attack me after finding out what I did to make her so upset..." Roxas mumbled under his breath.

"Talking to yourself again?" a haughty voice drifted into his ears.

Roxas looked up and met the green cat-like eyes of his other best friend, Axel. For a minute he stared dumbly before remembering earlier that day that he had vowed to not speak to Axel; after all, he had been the one who persuaded Roxas to sneak- err, explore- around Naminé's house in the first place. Though it was partly his fault for agreeing to it...

_No. _Roxas shook his head. _It feels better to just pin the blame on Axel._

"What? Is my appearance so stunning that you can't even speak now?" Axel retorted sarcastically. "You never seemed to have a problem before."

Roxas willed his lips to stay shut, trapping his tongue between his upper and lower rows of teeth in the process. He instead turned to the desk he was residing at and shuffled papers around randomly. He soon felt Axel' s presence behind him. "Yo." The red head said while poking the back of Roxas' head. "Hell-o?"

Roxas grit his teeth together and got up from his seat, wandering over to the filing cabinets and stuffing documents in their appropriate folders. Some papers were left sticking out messily. _I'll fix those later..._

His ears picked up Axel's sigh, and his hand landed firmly on his shoulder. "Hey, are you mad about what happened at that girl's house?" Roxas grunted and continued his so-called 'organizing'. "You weren't mad at me then."

The dirty-blond haired stilled. _He's right. I'm just being a jerk by making him feel guilty._

He turned at faced his friend with a tired sigh. "Yeah, I know, sorry. I'm just...feeling bad, you know?"

Axel nodded, then shrugged. "But you were just trying to solve some things; you didn't mean to get on her bad side or anything."

"Yeah, but I still should have asked her up front instead of spying on her," he replied. "At least then I wouldn't have to be in this awkward situation and not know how to act around her."

Axel frowned. "Speaking of which, how did you act around her today? Didn't she have an appointment today?"

Roxas winced. "She did, but my dad got a call saying that she wasn't feeling well." He looked up when he heard Axel let out a soft 'ah'. "Yeah, too much of a coincidence, huh? Now I feel even more guilty." He laid his head on the desk, effectively burying his face within the articles piled helplessly.

His friend patted his back. "Well, she's bound to come back some time, right? You can just apologize then. I'm sure she'll forgive...in time."

"Maybe...I called her house earlier and her mother said that she'll most likely attend the appointment tomorrow," he informed the red-head. "I guess I'll need a whole apology speech readied before then, huh?"

An idea suddenly struck his mind. "Oh!" he lifted his head from his desk quickly. Axel raised a questioning eyebrow at him as his moody friend locked eyes with him, catching the flicker I his cerulean eyes. "Yes?"

"Do you know what girls like?"

Axel blinked owlishly for a second. "Hmm, let's see...boys, clothes, doing the unmentionables-"

"Axel!" Roxas flushed darkly. "I didn't mean _that_! I mean, what kinds of things should a boy get for a girl to get her forgiveness?"

The red-head let out an "Ooohhh....that's what you meant." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I don't know for sure...a ring would be too much...aha! flowers, of course!"

The younger teenager perked up. "What kind?"

"Eh, I'm not an expert on flowers; whichever one looks pretty?" he shrugged nonchalantly and pulled up a chair beside Roxas. "I'm guessing you're gonna give her some flowers?"

"I guess so- she might see that I really mean it when I say I'm sorry," he said while pursing his lips. "I'll have to go after work. Want to come?"

Before Axel had a chance to voice his answer, the phone rang unexpectedly, causing Roxas to jolt out of his seat. He resumed his seat after calming his heart and picked it up. "Destiny Center, how may I help you?"

"Is this Dr. Takano?" a deep, confused voice sailed through.

"Uh, no, this his current secretary." He frowned as he recognized the voice as that of the mysterious man who had called a few days ago. "I can forward you to his office, if you'd like; he doesn't have an appointment at the moment."

"Ah, yes, that'd be great. Thank you," the strange man replied.

"No problem," Roxas responded as he clicked a button on the phone cradle. "Dad, there's a phone call for you."

His father's voice filtered through, "Alright, I'll pick up; thank you."

Roxas answered with a short 'mm-hmm', clicking off the speaker and hanging up the phone. He leaned back in his chair, "Weird...I wonder who that guy is..."

Axel cocked his head to the side, "What guy?"

The dirty-blond haired boy shook his head, not wanting to tell him about the mysterious man just yet; it probably wasn't anything too important anyway. "Never mind. So will you be able to come with me to pick out flowers? Not that I need help..."

Axel snorted. "Sure you don't. And why not?" he reclined back lazily on the rolling chair. "I have nothing better to do. You don't mind if I hang around here till you get off, do you?"

"Nah, besides, you'd stay here even if I told you I minded."

A smirk graced the red-head's lips. "You know me too well."

***

"How about that one?" Axel pointed at an Anthurium.

Roxas made a disapproving face. "No...I don't really like it." They were currently wandering through a flower shop, picking up random flowers yet disliking each one so far. It had been awkward at first when they had entered for several of the costumers had stared at them and wondered why two teenage boys would roam around a flower shop. Some thought they were buying flowers for their girlfriends, earning a soft "awww" from the females, others believed the same but only because they had broken their girlfriends' hearts, earning critical shakes of heads, and others thought they themselves were a couple, who, when heard by Roxas, were immediately corrected.

The older teenager sauntered through the rows and stacks of flowers. The smells would surely be the death of him. His green eyes skimmed over the area, looking for exotic flowers. "How about that one?"

His friend craned his neck to look at the one the red-haired boy was pointing at. He shook his head when his eyes came upon a Heather. "Eh, that one looks too bushy."

"That one?" a muscular arm pointed at a spiky-looking plant.

"That's a cactus, Axel."

"Okaaayyy....those?" this time he pointed at slim red flowers.

"There's no way I'm giving her _red roses _just for an apology. Do you even know what they mean?" Roxas shot him a disbelieving look.

Roxas continued walking through the small flower shop, furrowing his eyebrows as he came upon each type of flower. The name of the flower, the price, and a brief description of each kind of flower were displayed on small signs. He weaved in and out of the rows, reading the helpful notes. At last, his eyes landed on beautiful, fragile white flowers labeled "Queen Anne's Lace" signifying "sanctuary". He bounded over to them and scooped up a handful, dropping them gently into his used-to-be empty basket. Satisfied with his new discovery, he turned around and scanned the place for his active friend and spotted the mass of red hair about ten feet away. With his basket secured in his grasp, he went to meet up with him.

"Hey, I got something," he said as he approached the red-head. Axel tore his gaze from some pink plants and caught sight of the flowers in the basket.

"Nice. What are they called?" he nodded his head at them curiously.

"Queen Anne's Lace, I think." He looked down at them before frowning. "This seems too small. Maybe I should get some more?" He turned to head back at the stand he found them but Axel's sudden grip on his arm stopped him. He sent him an inquisitive expression.

"Don't get the same flowers, stupid; you should different ones for variety," he rolled his eyes like it was obvious. "Duh."

"Fine, fine. You pick out some this time- good one, I mean," Roxas added.

Axel let go of his grasp on Roxas' arm and peered around. His eyes stopped flickering and he pointed at another set of flowers two feet away from them. "How about those?"

They went over the mentioned flowers and looked at the sign beside them. It read: "Statice- Sea Lavenders". Skipping over the description of where they came from, what they were used for and so forth, they both read the last line: "...often known to stand for Remembrance."

"Hmm, not bad, eh?" Axel nodded appreciatively and grabbed a few, depositing them into the basket. "That should be good enough; let's go."

The two teenagers made their way over the cash registers to check out. Roxas set the basket on the counter and reached into his back pocket for his wallet...only to find nothing there. Panicked, he wondered where it could have gone and patted his back pockets repeatedly, hoping to hit something small and solid in them.

"Um, Roxas? Patting your butt won't make it shrink, you know."

"No, not that; I lost my wallet! I think I might have dropped-" he suddenly remembered his leather wallet sitting innocently in his drawer at work. "Oh no...I left it at work." He groaned and slumped his shoulders.

"No problem, I'll pay," Axel said simply, whipping out his wallet from his jacket. He pulled out a handful of munny as the cashier scanned the items.

"Thanks, I'll pay you back," Roxas smiled gratefully.

Axel shook his head, "Nah, forget it. Consider this a 'thank you' for the ice cream yesterday." He flashed him a toothy grin before handing the necessary amount of munny to the cashier and grabbing the bag of fresh flowers.

Roxas smiled again as the two began their journey home.

***

_I can do this, I can do this..._ Roxas said over and over again in his head. Naminé was supposed to come in today so he had diligently brought the nicely arranged bouquet of flowers purchased yesterday and had attempted to clean up his usual wrinkly attire. He cursed silently when he forgot a part of his apology speech- though he had a feeling that he would most likely forget it when he was actually facing her- and tucked some stray papers into a drawer to make his work area more presentable. Once everything was clean and spotless, Roxas settled back in his chair and awaited the appearance of Naminé.

_Her mother didn't call saying that Naminé wouldn't be here so that means she should be here... _He checked the clock on the wall. _Anytime now...her session begins in eight minutes..._

One minute passed by...

Two minutes...

Three...

He glanced back at the clock- her appointment would begin in a couple of minutes. Why wasn't she here yet?

He sunk into his chair, thinking deeply. Was she lost? His mind told him that she probably wouldn't be walking to Destiny Center, seeing as her house wasn't that close; plus, her mother didn't seem like the type to just send her daughter- purely innocent and vulnerable- on a walk. So, where was she? Had she told her parents about what he did a couple of days ago and they decided to leave? But wouldn't they have called?

Roxas continued his heavy thinking in this general direction until he peeked back up at the clock to realize that..._it's already been an hour?!_

"Roxas, has Naminé arrived yet?" his father walked towards him, a puzzled and concerned frown etching his facial expression.

He shook his head. "No, and it's been an hour...should I call her parents?"

Dr. Takano nodded. "That will do. Tell me what they say, alright?"

"Okay." He picked up the phone and, once he found the phone number for the Omura residence, punched in the numbers. A couple of rings passed until the maid- Ms. Tanaka, if his memory was right- answered dutifully.

"This is Roxas Takano from Destiny Center-"

"Right, please hold on for a minute."

Silence ensued until the familiar voice Mrs. Omura greeted him. "Yes? May I help you?"

"Oh, yes, I was wondering if Naminé will be able to make it to the appointment today, since it was supposed to begin about an hour ago..." he began uncertainly.

"Pardon? I already sent Naminé over- she isn't there?"

Roxas stilled. "Um, no ma'am. We haven't seen her yet, but I'll look around a few more times and get back to you."

"Uh...yes, alright...thank you..." he could hear the confusion and the beginning of a panic in her voice before she hung up.

He set down his own phone and stared at it, dumbfounded. _Naminé was supposed to be here and her own mother doesn't even know where she is at the moment..._

He had so many questions running through his head, but only one seemed to be stand out the most: _Where is Naminé?_

---

**A/N: **Finished! Yes, it's shorter than the rest, but at least it's here, right? I was going to continue this chapter but then it would probably be too long so I decided to cut it off here. Oooh, cliffhanger! Anyway, thank you all for being patient with me- I'm glad I finally posted this up!

Merry Christmas!

-Hatsuya


	4. Relented Compromise

**A/N: **Hello, my beloved readers! Ask and you shall receive...chapter four! Haha, please enjoy this and leave a comment! Comments help motivate me. ;)

**Disclaimer: **No matter how much I wish, bribe, and lie, I still do not own Kingdom Hearts...ah well, Disney and Square Enix (Tetsuya Nomura) owns it fair and square...for now.

**Chapter Four- Relented Compromise **

Roxas had yet to move from his seat ever since he had called the Omura residence. After hearing the shocking news concerning Naminé, he had phoned his dad who was currently residing within his own office and relayed the new piece of information to him. His father had been, quite like Roxas, surprised before deciding that he would call the Omura's himself and try to resolve the issue. But that had been an hour ago. At the moment, the Omura family had sent out a few maids and butlers to check for signs of Naminé at places she visited the most often. Roxas had instantly perked up at this idea, offering to help as well.

However, there was a slight problem...

After a minute of awkwardness and sheepishness on her part, Mrs. Omura admitted that Naminé didn't actually go out much since she was afraid that something might happen to her once outside. Plus, Naminé didn't seem as healthy as usual recently so she made sure that she was regularly safe at home. While he was being told this, Roxas had noticed the brief glimmer in his father's eyes as if he was linking a few clues together- most likely from his session with Naminé that first day- but as soon as it had come, the glimmer was gone and his father returned to the matter at hand.

And now he was left with absolutely nothing to do but sit stupidly in his chair. After all, he had finished all of his work- organizing, typing succinct reports, and calling in on people- earlier when he had believed that Naminé was going to show up at the entrance of Destiny Center any time. So what else could he do except wait and hope for the best?

He glanced at the clock. How long was he supposed to wait anyway until they found her? What if they didn't find her...?

Roxas shook his head to clear his mind of negative thoughts. There was no reason to become too stressed about this, right?

"Roxas?" he turned his head in the direction of the voice. His father stood there, a surprised look adorning his face. "You're still here?"

"Where else would I be?"

His father opened his mouth slightly before promptly closing it and shaking his head. "Point taken. But why don't you head on home? It seems that this search will take a little more time, and I've noticed that you have finished your work earlier than usual."

"You sure? You don't need help with anything?" _What's the point in going home now, anyway?_

His father nodded. "I'm sure. I'll call you if any news comes in, though."

_But then again, why stay here? _"I guess...I'll see you later then." He grabbed his wallet once his father confirmed his statement and walked away, but, just as he pivoted to leave, his eyes caught sight of the abandoned flowers lying on the desk. "Guess I'll be taking you home then."

_Why can't things ever work out nicely?_

***

He had been halfway home when his stomach rumbled loudly and he rolled his eyes, saying, "Hang in there, we're almost home." But then he realized that he didn't have any food at home...oh, wasn't he supposed to go grocery shopping the other day...? _Might as well do it now, then._

Roxas took the right path leading to the familiar cluster of shops, entering the grocery store centered right in the middle. The front doors automatically slid open for him, and he was hit softly with a fresh whoosh of air. Taking hold of a nearby carrying basket, Roxas began his search up and down the aisles for the necessary items.

_Just one more item to go..._ he thought after a while. _And that's just some energy bars for dad._

He reached the shelves containing lines of nutrition, slim, on-the-go, granola, and energy bars, looking for the right brand. As his eyes scanned the hundreds of similarly shaped boxes, his shoulder made harsh contact with an oblivious body which made a small yelp. Roxas snapped his eyes in the direction of the sound just as a girl tumbled onto the ground ungracefully. He quickly dropped his basket and bent over the girl. "I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

The girl- or what he supposed to be a girl, anyway- produced an incomprehensible sound in the back of her throat as she struggled to get up. Grabbing her hand, he gently pulled her up into a sitting position and watched the pale blue cape that was secured around her shoulders fall about her form. The hood of it covered most of her face yet he could still make out her right eye which was squeezed shut in pain.

"Do you need help?" Roxas pressed when she didn't answer properly.

"N-no, I-" she cut herself off and her left hand- which had been patting her sore head- became immobile.

"Something wrong?"

She furiously shook her head and immediately began gathering her now scattered supplies, scooping them back into her own basket. Roxas instantly began helping her and reached for a sketch pad right as she did, the result being that her hand laid down directly on top of his. She whipped her hand away, clutching it to her chest, while keeping her head hanging down. Roxas shrugged off her odd behavior and handed her the sketch pad with a soft, "Here."

"Oh, tha-" she clamped her hand over her mouth and settled on nodding her head in gratitude before swiftly picking up her basket and heading for the cashier.

"What was that about?" he wondered to himself. _Does she have some kind of problem with talking to strangers? _Shaking his head, he continued his shopping.

***

"That'll be one hundred and twenty munny."

Roxas fished the appropriate amount of munny out of his pocket and gave them to the middle-aged woman known as the cashier. He refrained from looking at her face for too long though seeing as she had a very distracting moustache on her face. _How do these things happen?!_

He made his way to the exit but stopped and turned around as he heard a tiny voice call out, "Waaaiiiittt! Mister!!"

He looked confusedly down at the little boy who was catching his breath in front of him. The boy, dressed in a plain white shirt with basketball shorts, thrust a small lavender pouch up, obviously wanting Roxas to take hold of it. "Yours! On the ground!"

"He means that he saw it fall out of your basket and onto the ground, so he came to return it to you," said a woman proudly standing behind the toddler. He assumed her to be his mother.

"Oh, but this isn-" he stopped himself as he remembered the encounter with that strange girl moments earlier. Maybe it was hers? "Thanks." After patting the boy appreciatively on the shoulder- from whom he received a pleased grin- he turned to leave again and broke into a sprint. _Maybe if I run, I'll be able to catch up with her..._

After several seconds of nonstop running- especially since the grocery bags, though not many, were weighing him down- Roxas was ready to give up but kept his pace when he caught sight of a familiar blue cape billowing in the wind. "Hey! Hold on!"

The teenage girl turned in his direction, the hood still snuggly over her head. She was panting slightly- probably due to her speed walking. Roxas halted in front of her and outstretched his arm to present the pouch to her. "Is this yours?"

She let out a small gasp and nodded her head, taking it from his hand quickly. However, as she did so, a card fell out of the open pouch and flittered to the ground slowly. Before she could do anything, Roxas bent down and picked it up, giving her that as well. He glanced down at it briefly as she reached for it, and his eyes widened at what he saw: a school ID card containing information about..._Naminé?_

Roxas lifted his surprised eyes to her face in time to see her snatch the card from his grasp and flee. He took a few more moments to grasp the current situation and the suddenness of her actions but once he did, he chased after her, hot on her heels. His grocery bags lay forgotten on the ground.

"Wait! Naminé!"

She gave no response, and she quickened her pace to outrun him. _Oh come on, I wasn't on the track team for two years for nothing!_

He was so close..."Naminé! Why are you running?!"

He ignored the questioning stares of bystanders- though he hoped no one called the cops on him, thinking him to be some kind of rapist- and continued his sprint. The corner of her cape tickled his knuckle for a brief second and he knew that the chase would be over in a moment.

Gathering some of his energy, he sped his pace and clamped his hand onto her shoulder; she gasped audibly and ceased all movements, standing on wobbly legs. Breathing heavily, Roxas applied some pressure to her shoulder to make her face him. She complied, though reluctantly, and hesitantly met his eyes. Her hood had left its position around her head in the run, allowing her blonde hair to sway in the light breeze. The two grocery bags she had had clutched in her hand fell onto the grass next to her.

They stared at each other for a while until Naminé broke the eye contact by looking off to her right. "What do you want?"

He creased his brow. "What do you mean? You've been missing for hours now! Your parents are worried sick about you!"

"So?" she glared at a patch of dried grass.

"So? You don't care that they've been looking all over for you?"

"What? You want me to go back to them so they can see what else is wrong with me? And so-called professionals can try to dissect me with stupid questions like, 'Have you considered the possibility of amnesia'?" she released an unlady-like snort. "I don't think so."

Roxas set his jaw. "They're just trying to help you."

Naminé turned angry eyes onto him. "Well, what if I don't need help?! What if, for once, everyone else is wrong and I'm right?!"

"Well we won't know that until we try to do something about this, will we?!" he shot back.

"What is 'this', though? It's not like I have some disease!"

"No, but apparently you remember things that others don't! It could just be that those people are bad at remembering things, but by the amount of those people, it seems unlikely!"

"Wait, how do you know all this about me?!"

Roxas stilled. _Oh, right...there I go again... _"Well..."

Naminé glowered at him. "Then again, I'm not surprised. You were basically stalking me the other day!"

"I was not stalking you!" Roxas let out frustrated sound. "But that's besides the point. What matters is that there's something weird going on right now that involves you and the people around you. And by weird, I mean that this 'case' has never been seen before and that's why your parents are trying so hard to find out how to make things better even though you don't appreciate their efforts and cooperate!"

She flinched, causing Roxas to wonder if he went too far. Her shoulders slumped as a single tear slipped down her cheek. "You're right, but I am thankful to my parents for caring about me...it just hurts that they honestly think there's something wrong with me...and would go to all the trouble...to..." she bit her lip while staring solemnly at the ground once more. "What if I'm going crazy? The memories...they seem so real! I remember everything about them so why don't they?" a sob escaped her lips, followed by another and another one until she was crying fully. She dropped to her knees with her face in her hands, looking so fragile...like a doll almost.

_Like in my dream...she was a doll and calling for me..._

Was his dream a prediction? Did it mean that he was meant to meet her and help her? But it seemed so silly and Roxas wasn't one to believe wholeheartedly in concepts like fate. _Dream or not though, I'm not just going to stand by and see her suffer._

He knelt down beside her frame, placing a soothing hand on her back. "Look, I know it's hard, but maybe if you spend a few more hours with my dad or someone things can be solved and taken care of. Like I said before, you won't know until you try."

She hiccupped. "But it's hard to go through it alone..."

He raised an eyebrow. "You're not alone. Your parents are always there and my dad's there to talk to you."

"Yeah, but I feel so distant with my parents lately- I can't help it. And well, Dr. Takano...I don't know. I mean, he's very generous, but he's still sort of a reminder that there _is_ something wrong with me," she said as she hugged herself.

"Well, you have..." Roxas trailed off and looked away.

Naminé gazed up at him. "Huh?"

He blushed lightly. "I know this might sound weird, but you have, uh, me too, you know. I'm willing to be your friend...if you want to, that is."

Her cheeks were tinted with pink by the time he finished, but her eyes flashed with hope. "R-really?"

He shrugged and gave her a smile. "Sure. We could hang out before or after your appointments. So you're not completely alone."

She offered him a small, pleased smile. "Yeah...I'd like that."

He grinned a bit wider and held out his hand for her to take, his other hand scooping up her grocery bags. "Well then, 'friend', I say we get out of here and head back. I can drop you off at your house?"

Naminé bit her lower lip again in thought and Roxas quickly added, "When you're ready, of course."

She shook her head and took his hand. "No, I'm ready."

He shot her an appreciative smile. "Alright, which way is your house again?" she quietly pointed down a deserted path and walked beside him as he began the trek back due to the hold he still had on her hand. She blushed slightly then shook her head again; after all, he didn't seem to notice- or just wasn't reading too much into it- and, somehow, it made her feel warm inside. So, instead of recoiling, she allowed a tiny smile to grace her face and kept with his stride all the way home.

_Maybe things are finally looking up?_

**---**

**A/N: **That's it for chapter four! I was going to add more but thought I'd save it for the next chapter. A bit fluffy near the end, huh? Well, it just shows that it's the beginning of Naminé's and Roxas' friendship. Oh yeah, did you notice the last thought (in Italics)? Before they would contain only Roxas' thoughts but this one is Naminé's; ooh-la-la! That was my subtle way of showing you guys that the story will not just follow Roxas; Naminé's background and POV will be introduced too. So beware and enjoy the ride!

Thank you all readers and reviewers! Your comments do help me. Please contact me if you have any suggestions or questions!

-Hatsuya (P.S. Happy soon-to-be St. Patrick's Day! And sorry for the long wait!)


End file.
